Chapter 9. Managing Desktops

In this chapter, you learn how to manage the desktops in a pool.

When you configure pools to use cloning to produce flexible
desktops, Oracle VDI automatically manages the desktops in
the pool for you. It is worthwhile taking the time to watch the life
cycle of a desktop so that you understand the administration
benefits of this approach.

While you are still logged in to your desktop, click the
Desktop tab for the pool
in Oracle VDI Manager. In the Desktop State column of the Desktops table,
notice that the state of one of the desktops is now shown as Used
and the name of the user that using the desktop is also displayed,
as shown in
Figure 9.1.

Figure 9.1. A Desktop in Use in the Pool

Now go back to your desktop and log out of Windows, using the normal
Windows method for logging out. After you are logged out of Windows,
you should be automatically logged out of Oracle VDI. In
Oracle VDI Manager, go to the Desktop
tab for the pool. After a few moments, the desktop state changes to
Idle but the user is still assigned the desktop, as shown in
Figure 9.2.

Figure 9.2. An Idle Desktop in the Pool

Although a user is assigned to the desktop, the assignment is
temporary and the desktop is still a flexible desktop. If the user
logs in again during the idle timeout period, they reconnect to the
same desktop. Once the desktop has remained in the Idle state for
the idle timeout period, the user assignment is removed and the
desktop is recycled. The desktop state is changed to Available and
the desktop can then be used by any user assigned to the pool, as
shown in
Figure 9.3.

Figure 9.3. Recycled Desktops

On the Desktop tab, you can also
perform manual actions on individual desktops. Select a desktop in
the Desktop table and then click the
More Actions drop-down
list, as shown in
Figure 9.4.

Figure 9.4. Desktop Actions

Select a desktop in the Available state, and then select the
Delete Desktop action. After a
few moments a new cloning job should start, because cloning is still
enabled for the pool and the number of desktops in the pool is less
than the pool's configured preferred size.

In the Desktops table, click the name of a desktop in the Name
column. The Desktop Summary page is displayed.

Figure 9.5. Desktop Summary Page

Here you can see detailed information about the desktop and the
virtual machine. You can also change the configuration of the
virtual machine and even connect to it.

In this guide, you have seen how to perform all the configuration
needed for a single-host Oracle VDI deployment. The host
can perform all the functions required to deliver virtual desktops
to users, including cloning and storing the virtual desktops, as
well as managing the connections to those desktops. Users can
connect to their desktops using different Sun Ray Clients, including
Oracle Virtual Desktop Client for iPad, and they can move between Sun Ray Clients
(hotdesk) and reconnect to their desktop.

The single-host configuration demonstrated in this guide is suitable
for evaluation deployments, but for a production deployment a
minimum of two hosts configured in this way and joined together to
form an Oracle VDI Center is required. It is also possible
to use separate hosts for Oracle VDI, the virtualization
platform, and the storage, so that a single Oracle VDI
Center can host many thousands of desktops.